Wonder Woman Special #1 (May 1992)

When Wonder Woman got rebooted after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, her book fell into the hands of Len Wein, Greg Potter, and George Perez. However, the comic would end up being a Perez production. George Perez's run on the book would end up being one of the most beloved and acclaimed runs on the character. But all great things have to end at some time. Perez would leave the book with issue #62, after the War of the Gods storyline. Behind the scenes shenanigans would result in Perez distancing himself from DC Comics for several years after this. But the book still needed a writer. Enter William Messner-Loebs.

Loebs was a regular presence at DC at this time. He had earlier written for the Wally West Flash's book (where he and artist Greg LaRocque introduced Wally's future wife Linda Park and reintroduced the Pied Piper as a reformed villain and as one of DC's first major gay characters), Dr. Fate's book, and also wrote for the Batman newspaper strip. Was Messner-Loebs's debut on the Amazing Amazon a strong start? Let's take a look at Wonder Woman Special #1! 

The cover is a Jill Thompson piece. It's pretty cool, depicting Diana and Deathstroke the Terminator fighting in what looks like a castle as they are getting shot at. The type "Amazon vs. Assassin" is a bit misleading, though. Slade is in this story, and he and Diana are at odds, but he's not the antagonist of the story. You'll see what I mean. 

"Operation Cheetah: Part One"

Writer: William Messner-Loebs
Penciler: Jill Thompson
Inker: Jay Geldhof

Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth

Letterer: Albert DeGuzman

Editor: Dan Thorsland

The story begins with Barbara Minerva, the Cheetah, fleeing through some snow. The narration of the comic talk about how she shouldn't have come back there. How she should have realized that she had fallen into a trap. Cheetah does have an advantage out here. Her sharp senses allowed her to pick up their scent, hear the crunching of snow from their boots. But it seems like these men may be magical, as they are able to recapture her.

The scene then shifts to Boston, where our heroine is helping rescue a cat from a tree.

The little kitten is Archimedes, the pet of Vanessa Kapatelis. She, her mother Julia, and Diana end up getting a visitor: one Ed Indelicato. He's a happy boy because he gets to be the bearer of good news.

The Cheetah has been captured in a country called Pan Balgravia. Presumably a Baltic state, it recently overthrew its Communist government. However, the new government isn't much better. There's been rumors of torture, anti-semitism, even devil worship. The Kapatelises are not exactly sympathetic to the Cheetah's plight, and understandably so. Minerva's menaced Diana several times at this point, stolen her lasso, and killed people out of feral rage and power lust. Diana sees her as a sister however, despite Cheetah not having any issue with killing her. The Amazing Amazon packs her bags, including her costume and lasso. She also needs another resource, which she'll have to meditate to get.

"Heraaaa...I want a cheese sandwich..."

She finds herself going down into what looks like an endless ocean. She ends up in front of a cave that holds the river god Proteus, god of sea change. The comic describes him as the son of Oceanus and Antibe, but according to mythology, he was the son of Poseidon and a princess named Phoenice. Yeah.

"What you want?! I was enjoyin' my Matlock!"

Diana convinces him to share his wisdom with her. Afterwards, Julia tries to explain to Diana that Pan Balgravia is a tyrannical place with secret police, tapped phones, the works. This isn't just a simple slugfest. Diana is prepared, as Proteus gave her a boon. 

Proteus makes a mean fake ID.

With her new secret identity of Diane Prince, Diana can now make her way around the country to find Cheetah. Ed decides to go with her. Diana realizes on the way that she's going to need a little extra help. Someone who knows the region, someone who can handle themselves if a fight breaks out. So, who does she go to?

"You have no grudge with me, Diana. The Crisis made sure of that."

Yup, Deathstroke the Terminator. Diana tells him she wants to hire him to help her get Cheetah out. He initially refuses until he realizes that she's talking about Pan Balgravia. He readily agrees to help...too readily. Later, she arrives at the airport where he's waiting for her, and it's hilarious.

Diana was regarded as an underrated actress.

Channeling her late friend Mindy Mayer, Diana maintains her act until they get on the plane. And with that, she, Ed, and Deathstroke fly to Pan Balgravia. On their way to the hotel, Deathstroke explains that he knew Pan Balgravia's new President, a Von Nastraed. Thing was, the man hated the Communists that ran the country before him, but the man also was someone who ultimately always had his own agenda. We then check in on Cheetah.

"WHERE'S MAH KIBBLE?!"

The feline femme fatale doesn't look good. She has no idea how long she was trapped and chained up. She knows she was tortured. A blond man and a redheaded man named "Mr. Drax" visits her. Cheetah spits that she'll never tell them where the dagger is. She's presumably talking about the dagger she used to gain her Cheetah powers. The blond man tells her they already have it, because she told them.

Drax points out to the blond man, whom he calls "Baron", that she's too weak for the ceremony. The Baron lets Drax do as he will. We don't see what he does, but the Cheetah's power leaves Barbara, and the Baron remarks that Drax broke her. 

Deathstroke, Ed, and Diana drive up to a castle that the mercenary's sources tell her Cheetah is locked up in. Deathstroke provides Diana with a Kevlar suit for some extra protection. As Ed guards their car, the two make their way in. The two dispatch their guards in their own way. They make their way into the palace, but Diana can't help but feel that they're going into a trap. The two manage to dispatch some more guards, and they argue over what to do with one surviving guard. Diana holds off a bunch of goons so Deathstroke can escape. The Terminator makes his way out and tasks Ed with an important job.

Deathstroke had a girlfriend here he had to get this chocolate to.

Deathstroke then threatens the guard, but Diana admonishes him for torturing the guard. He doesn't even need to, as her lasso can make him tell the truth. Under the lasso, the guard reveals that the Cheetah was moved to a hidden palace deep in the mountains. It's in the palace that the Baron performs some real creepy ceremonies with...special guests. To keep people from finding his prisoners...or their graves...the Baron had several fake prisons set up. Diana and Slade had just raided one of them. The guards screams that a "Joyful One" is coming for him, described as a horned man. And his head explodes.

This leads to Diana and Slade arguing over his methods, but Ed's appearance forces them to table it. After all, they have a dinner to attend. Mmm...dinner...

The three dine at the Baron's supposed favorite restaurant. Ed spots the Baron, and Diana arranges for a bottle of champagne to be sent to his table. The Baron pays her a visit, and then Diana goes into her tourist act. She pretends to be intimidated a bit by the Baron's supposed masculinity. He asks if she likes it, and she says he does. He then invites her to a place in the mountains that would...appeal to her. In private, he discusses Diana with Drax, and allows him to make the preparations for...the "transfer". 

The three drive away, but Slade wants something from the trunk. Ed tries to convince our heroine that Slade is running his own game. Slade suits up in his Deathstroke gear and tells them he's going in. They can do whatever they want. Diana tries to get him to stop, even using her lasso. It doesn't work, as Slade knows what he is. It ends up degenerating into a fight.

The Amazing Amazon may be tough, but Slade is no slouch. He's fought teams of superhumans before. She takes him down with a hard punch to the gut, then locks him in the trunk. She then hears a loud alarm from the mountain palace. She tells Ed that if she's not back in an hour, she won't return. Diana easily makes her way in, having the feeling she's walking into a trap again. She demands the Baron hand over the Cheetah. He snaps his fingers, and a group of men ambush her. Their strength appears to be mystically enhanced. She asks what is going on and who they are. Drax shows them.

Man, this American Werewolf in London remake is weeeeird...

The demonic Drax takes down Wonder Woman with one blast. Thirty minutes later, Ed checks on Slade. Hopefully, some time in the trunk has calmed him down a bit. He pops it open, but Slade is gone. What is he, magic now? Well, no. Slade is tough. He recovers quick. He just had to find some friends.

"I figured these hunters would be helpful, Ed."

At times, even Deathstroke gets by with a little help from his friends.

I honestly enjoyed this adventure. The highlight is really the team-up between Diana and Slade Wilson. It was an interesting team-up. Their conflict really helped show their characters. Diana is a warrior who avoids killing wherever possible, whereas Slade is a ruthless mercenary who does whatever he has to do to get the job done and get paid. It's also neat seeing Diana engage in a bit more espionage. To me, Wonder Woman is more of a high fantasy-styled superheroine, so seeing her do spy work is rather interesting. I got a good chuckle out of her acting like an airhead at the airport. 

Because of the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Diana's history was rebooted and that meat her connections to Donna Troy was severed. That was a shame, as I can imagine that if those connections remained, things between Diana and Slade would have gone a lot differently. But that's not this comic's fault. 

The comic does show its age with the fictional country of Pan Balgravia. It's clearly meant to be modeled after the post-Communist Eastern European bloc. But that can't be helped, it's a feature of comic books. They're going to reflect their time of publication, for better or worse. And Jill Thompson does turn in some good work. I think she was one of the first women to draw the book, so that's pretty cool. Not much I can say about it. I like how she drew the fight between Diana and Slade. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2020 trade paperback Wonder Woman Book 1: The Last True Hero. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!